Italian Qualifying Round 14

Lewis Hamilton takes pole position for the Italian GP ahead of Nico Rosberg and Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel as Jenson Button announces that he won’t race in 2017.

03/09/16

Q1

Kevin Magnussen is the first car out on track and sets the pace of a 1:25:074. Nico Rosberg replaces Magnussen at the top with a 1:22:497. With 10 minutes to go, Manor’s Esteban Ocon comes to a halt at turn 1 at the run of area. The marshals push his car to safety and the incident is covered by a yellow flag for a minute. Lewis Hamilton goes to the top of the time sheets on a 1:21:854. With 2 minutes to go, Felipe Nasr, Fernando Alonso, Jolyon Palmer, Kevin Magnussen and Marcus Ericsson are in the drop zone.

The final laps are in and Magnussen, Palmer, Nasr and Ericsson can’t improve while Alonso can. Daniil Kvyat is also knocked out. Lewis Hamilton is fastest ahead of Nico Rosberg and Sebastian Vettel.

Q2

Nico Rosberg is the first car out on track and sets a 1:21:809. Lewis Hamilton then replaces Rosberg at the top with a 1:21:498. Sebastian Vettel comes round and goes 3rd on a 1:22:255. With 5 minutes to go, Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen sit dangerously close to the drop-zone in 9th and 10th. With 2 minutes to go, the cars head back out onto the track for their final runs in Q2.

Fernando Alonso, Jenson Button and Romain Grosjean can’t improve while Nico Hulkenberg can and is in the top 10. Pascal Wehrlein splits the McLaren cars of Alonso and Button, a great effort. Lewis Hamilton is again fastest ahead of Nico Rosberg and Sebastian Vettel.

Q3

Nico Rosberg is the first car out on the track and sets a lap time of a 1:21:646. Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton are next across the line on a 1:22:347 and a 1:21:358. Kimi Raikkonen sets a 1:22:065, a quicker lap than team-mate Vettel. With 3 minutes to go, the cars head out for their final runs in the session. Nico Rosberg cannot improve and Lewis Hamilton is on pole position.

Grosjean* was handed a 5 place grid penalty for a gearbox change after FP3.

Button won’t race in 2017

Jenson Button will step down from F1 in 2017 and be replaced by Stoffel Vandoorne, but will stay with McLaren as an ambassador and reserve. Button has signed a deal with McLaren but could return to the grid in 2018 with McLaren after agreeing a new two-year role at the team.

Button is the third most experienced driver in F1 history, and this year’s Abu Dhabi finale is set to be his 308th F1 GP. Button could return to F1 in 2018 if Fernando Alonso retires. This means he would return and partner Vandoorne for 2017.